Last updated on May 20th, 2023 at 12:55 am
In this section, we will discuss how to Export Charts Reports, and Books from Family Tree Maker Software. Read the full Guide…
Trouble Export Charts Reports and publications from Family Tree Maker
Charts, reports, and books in Family Tree Maker are great ways to combine information into a very presentable, highly readable format.
However, you sometimes may run into issues either when you generate or export them, especially when they have a lot of data.
There is no set limit within Family Tree Maker for these charts, reports, and book size. You may have other limitations on your computer.
Here we will discuss four items:
- Potential Computer Limitations
- Chart and Reports
- Books
- Troubleshooting
1. Potential Computer Limitations
There are factors on any computer that may make publication (charts, reports & books) generation and exportation slow or fail.
For example, Family Tree Maker Software, like all programs on your computer, uses a part of your RAM (Random Access Memory) to function.
When you run programs or background tasks at once, the amount of available RAM diminishes, and cause processes to halt.
In the same spirit, your computer’s processor can only manage so many processes at a time, so if you run multiple programs at once, it can attribute to a logjam in your processor power.
The more RAM on the computer and more the processing power you have available, the better chances a given program must complete the task you have had it involved in.
If you find that you are having trouble with publication items (charts, reports & books) slows or freezes, try to close programs or background tasks and start the process again.
While less of a concern with more modern computers, a low amount of remaining hard drive space can also cause undesirable behavior since it impedes the amount of virtual memory available.
As a rule, you should stop filling a hard drive with information when you reach about 90% capacity.
You can adjust virtual memory on a computer manually. If you have chosen to do this, make sure you are not setting it too low. The best choice is to let your operating system decide what amount is right for you.
2. Charts and Reports
While normally smaller than books, charts and reports in Family Tree Maker Software can still be quite big in size. In more recent versions of the software, the number of generations you can include in these publication types can go up to ninety-nine, which is much, much more than the average user would ever need.
To give a little perspective of this, a 10-generation report of only ancestors (no descendants) would be just over 1020 people. With an average of five people per page, you would end up with about 204 pages.
With that in mind, there are outlines of the format limitations you may run into with the more commonly used export options.
PDF / EMF / RTF
Charts
200” x 200” in poster layout
Reports
Poster layout not available for reports
These figures are more about the PDF format’s memory limitation than its physical dimensions. As such, these numbers are only approximating.
Depending on the amount of text, number, and size of photos, etc. that you have on the chart/report, your size range may vary greatly. Should you exceed the memory limitations of the PDF format, you will only see a giant, red X across the viewer when trying to open it.
If you meet this, you will need to decrease the amount of information you have in your publication item. This covers in the Troubleshooting section below.
EMF
Charts
2GB in all layouts
Reports
Not available in reports.
RTF
Charts
Not available in charts
Reports
Unlimited size but the programs used to open this format have limitations.
512MB in Microsoft Word
3. Books
Because books simply chart and report combined, the same rules apply in terms of export limitations. The only difference is that you cannot export books in image formats.
Due to the nature of the book function, users tend to make them exceptionally bigger than they normally would an individual chart/report.
Bigger books can put more of a memorable impression on your system and burden your processor more heavily when trying to generate.
4. Troubleshooting
If you have trouble while you try to generate a publication item (charts, reports & books), you can try these things:
- If your system seems to be slowing down while you generate or export, try to close other programs or background tasks. You can also try from a different computer with more RAM or a fast processor.
- If your computer or the export choice is running out of memory while you export an item as a PDF, try an EMF or RTF instead.
- EMFs are typically better for very large charts. Windows users can export to EMF or other image formats.
- Unfortunately, the EMF options are not available to Mac users. But there are other image formats you can try on that operating system as well.
- PDF programs have larger memory buffers than others. Switching to a different reader like PrimoPDF(Windows only) can sometimes allow you to view larger PDF files.
- If your item is still too big to view/export successfully. You may want to consider either splitting the publication or removing irrelevant information.
- Examples of this would be to use lower resolution photos (if included) or remove the photos altogether.
- You can even do something like running one publication item for each of your parental lines (maternal side vs. paternal side).
- Limiting your item to a certain number of ancestors and descendants can also be helpful.
- Charts in the poster layout allow you to drag the person nodes around the chart area. Where real estate is a factor, this can allow you to reduce the number of inches/pages for the chart manually.
- All charts have a “spacing option” that will allow you to decrease the distance between the person nodes which may also fix size issues.
Need any help you can visit our Website Family Tree Maker Support or you can Chat With our Experts.
You can Contact us Family Tree Maker Support Number to get your issue resolved. We provide phone support 24×7. Family Tree Maker Support number is +1-888-299-3207. So, you can call for help.
Quick Read:- How to Create a New Tree on FamilySearch- Mac & Windows